ABOUT Joseph R. Waala
Attorney
Joseph R. Waala has broad and deep expertise in energy marketing and trading, renewable energy, commercial contracts, startups, technology and intellectual property matters. He has negotiated and documented numerous physical and financial transactions, energy derivative and commodity trading enabling agreements, software licenses and subscriptions, equity and debt financing, and many other forms of transactions.
He earned his J.D. in 1999 at Georgetown Law, where he was an Assistant Editor on the Georgetown Environmental Law Review and graduated cum laude; and his Bachelor’s degree in 1996 at Brockport College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
While at Georgetown, he learned to wear many hats, working on an international environmental journal, clerking for a U.S. Federal judge, coaching an appellate moot court team, teaching test-taking skills at Princeton Review, volunteering for a legal aide organization, and interning for a prominent New York law firm and for the New York State Attorney General.
After graduating, he practiced tax and corporate law, commercial transactions, intellectual property, and commercial litigation for over 10 years at large, international law firms, before working in-house for a Fortune 500 international hybrid energy company, and later a newly-formed publicly-traded independent power producer.
He has over 6 years of recent in-house legal experience with both an international hybrid electric utility and a formerly publicly-traded (now privately-held) independent power producer. Working directly with the front and back office, operations personnel and senior management across diverse companies, he provided commercial support for all supply-chain/procurement matters, sales and marketing businesses, and trading operations.
He has taken on everything from law department development, integration and transition, to risk assessment/compliance, management, mentoring and process improvements.
He currently serves as outside general counsel for a variety of small to mid-size businesses, specializing in energy, startups, technology and consulting.
Joe is admitted to practice law in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and several other state and Federal courts.